Australians await rescue after deluge

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A Hunter Valley woman, Rosalie Crispin, is waiting anxiously for
news of her son Nathan, who was holed up in his house just outside
New Orleans when the hurricane struck.

Fearing looters, he stayed on alone in the town of Harahan while
his American wife left and checked into a hotel. He has not been
heard from since the day of the storm.

"His wife was in contact with him about two hours before the
hurricane hit and as far as we know, he was still in the house,"
said Mrs Crispin, of Valentine.

"He was frightened and a bit concerned about the looting and he
perhaps didn't think it was going to be as bad as it was."

Mr Crispin, 32, is a New Zealand citizen, but his mother and
brother are Australians. He has lived in Louisiana for several
years and works at a university.

His wife is searching relief centres for her husband. Mr
Crispin's brother Charles, from Newcastle, said: "[His wife] has
been back to the house and it's okay, but we can't find him on any
of the lists."

Meanwhile, the father of an Australian man who witnessed a
10-year-old girl being raped at the New Orleans Superdome has
slammed the Government for refusing to pay for face-to-face
counselling.

Peter McNeil's son, John, was among a group of nine Australians
who were evacuated to Dallas over the weekend, but he has been
badly traumatised.

"Physically he's okay and mentally he says he's okay," said Mr
McNeil, who plans to fly to Dallas to be with his son. "But they've
been through hell and back, and judging from an email he sent, he's
not okay," he said.

Consular officials had offered phone counselling and a flight
home but declined to provide anyone on the ground for psychological
help. "We've called them several times and they didn't really want
to offer us any help at all."

Consular officials believe 15 Australians are still awaiting
rescue from New Orleans.

Among those unaccounted for are Tracey and Peter Barron, of
Wauchope, and their children Campbell and Kennedy, who were last
seen stuck in gridlocked traffic while trying to flee the day
before the storm hit.

Yasmin Bright, 22, from Newcastle, was taken to Dallas after six
days in New Orleans, during which she was groped and watched a man
leap to his death inside the Superdome.

"If it was something that I saw in the everyday world, I would
have been completely shocked," Ms Bright said.

"But by that stage I'd seen so many horrible things, that [the
suicide] was just another horrible thing."